


When You're Sick, Things Fall Apart

by Karyra



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Aqua & Terra & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts) Are Family, Aqua gets a cold and everything falls apart, Aqua please stay in bed you're sick, Gen, Lighthearted fun don't take this seriously, Sick Character, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-02 06:14:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18805384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karyra/pseuds/Karyra
Summary: Aqua is sick. However, she won't stay and rest, and while things start to fall apart in the kitchen under Ven's vigil, Terra has to constantly keep Aqua from working herself half to death to accomplish something.





	1. The Unthinkable

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, it's short, but I wanted to get half of this out to motivate myself to finish it. I still love this idea, and want to finish it before it's... like... 2020.

It was only a day after Master Eraqus left that the unthinkable happened.

Aqua fell sick. Sure, there had been some warning, what with Terra just getting over a cold a week ago and Ventus just getting over whatever Terra got. It just never occurred to Terra that Aqua could get sick. She just always seemed in control, somehow. Like she was just this unstoppable force.

Which was exactly why when Terra discovered her in a heap of blankets after being the last to get up, sniffling up a storm, he had a minor existential crisis. 

“Hey Aqua are you okay?” he asked, already knowing her answer.

“Yeah, aihm just a little stuffed ub tobay,” Aqua replied. “Aihm fine, I need to to make breakf-”

“No, I think Ven and I can handle breakfast today. I think you’ve caught my cold, Aqua.”

Aqua’s pale blue room was always a mess, but the addition of a pile of tissues next to her desk where she made crafts for everyone was a clear indicator of her lying. From the amount and lack of symptoms yesterday, Terra surmised that she’d been up all night making... something. Whatever it was, it had been buried by the sheer mass of white tissues.

Aqua stared at him for a while, squinting. “It’s my turn to cook tobay, and since the master is-”

“Especially since the master is away we can take a moment to-”

“Cure!”

A large flower appeared above Aqua’s bed. Terra barely knew magic, but he recognized the basic spell that accidentally caused the grass to grow so thickly around him that he had to ask the master to help him hack away at it in order to escape. He also knew in advance that it didn’t treat colds, otherwise he and Ven wouldn’t have needed a sick day or two a week ago. Aqua needed to rest.

Aqua stood up, and shuffled in her soft blue and bluebird covered pajamas towards the door. “Not sick. Will cook.”

If anything, Terra thought she looked worse than before, somehow. “Still sick. Won’t cook.”

He scooped her up by the armpits, using his height to an advantage to simply carry her -now kicking- half-dead form back to her nest of blankets.

“Aqua, you’re causing way more of a fuss trying to be so stubborn about this,” Terra said. He felt like a parent trying to talk to a child.

“No! Tobay’s important, I can’t-”

“You can and you will. Just stay in bed. I promise neither Ven nor me will burn down the Land of Departure.”

“But Terra-”

“No buts. It will be fine.” Terra moved away from the bed, having tossed all the blankets she had on her at once in the vain hope it’d slow her down enough for him to run to the door. 

Once that was done, he dashed from the room and closed the door once the blanket nest had been upended. Unless Aqua was stupid enough to crawl through the windows from this high up while sick, this was her only means of exit. Terra leaned against the door as the handle jiggled as Aqua attempted to leave. She gave up after a few minutes, but by then Ventus was finally awake enough to realize that breakfast was incredibly late. 

“Terra...?” the blonde haired boy asked as he walked up to the scene in his green pajamas. “What’s going on?”

“Aqua caught our cold. She’s insistent on trying to cook this morning, but it looks like I’ll need to stay here to make sure she rests up. So Ven, I need you to make us some chicken soup, okay?” Terra replied.

His own pajamas were less effort than Aqua and Ventus’, having opted for a tank top and some orange pants, but Aqua and Ventus had always decided to be comfortable as possible while sleeping. Plus, the two shared a strange love of cute characters for their pajamas. Ventus’ sported little tornadoes, and Terra only kept the pants of the pajamas the two had tried to foist upon him so they could all match. The pants had little rocks with angry faces on them. Terra kept them because he wasn’t sure if he should disappoint Ventus by saying no.

How long had it been since Ventus had shown up? Terra had found himself relying more and more on Ventus as time passed, and he wondered how long that Ventus had been here. Ventus had become a regular fixture before long, it seemed. There was something about how long he’d been here, but before Terra could figure out the rest of the thought, Ven was off to the kitchen, eager to help.

Terra sat down in front of the door, deciding to wait out Aqua, as she had returned to the door handle because she thought he had left with Ventus. The rattling 

It was going to be a long day.

\---

“Ven, this is beef broth.” Terra said, carefully poking at the brown, mushy dish. He couldn't identify much of anything hidden within the opaque depths of the brew, but at least it smelled... edible.

“When did we get beef broth?” Ven asked, and Terra tried not to ask if Ven knew the difference between beef and chicken broth. 

“A week ago. I like to use it when it’s my turn to cook dinner.” Terra moved the spoon and uncovered something that was... well he thought it might be a carrot, but the shape was entirely wrong.

“Oh,” Ventus said, examining his failed soup, deflating in front of Terra's very eyes.

“That’s fine, it can be stew,” Terra said. He’s never had stew for breakfast, but it was better than nothing at all. He poked at something brown and orange again, but the shape didn’t help him identify it. He wasn't even sure if this was the same thing he'd found earlier.

“It’s a carrot. I tried to cut it into stars like Aqua does... and when I tried to cook the carrots I cut, I burned them. I guess I’m still working out all this stuff, I’m sorry.” Ven looked crushed. Like he had really tried to make the soup decent. Terra instantly felt guilty at not identifying it earlier.

 Terra tried some, and it wasn’t too bad. Some things were a little burned, but all of the pieces weren’t mushy either. It was decently cooked. At the very least, it had enough in it that Aqua could probably eat in order to start feeling at least a little better.

He put his hand on Ventus’ head, and tried not to spill the ‘soup’. “It’s really good, especially considering you’ve only been here a short while.” Terra ruffled the younger boy’s hair, smiling. “Okay, set things up for us in the dining room and I’ll join you once I give this to Aqua.”

Ventus nodded and ran off.

Terra watched him go, and remembered how in contrast to before, when Ventus had been a lifeless shell. That was when it clicked into place for Terra, and he went into Aqua’s room to deliver the soup. Surely, she wasn't that stupid so as to rush off to try and finish what he thought she was working on in the kitchen...

Aqua had been that stupid.

She’d escaped through the window of her room in a grim determination to cook. Terra sighed and put down the stew-soup. At the very least he should close the window before it blew the tissues even more across the room.

The wind had uncovered Aqua’s desk, which had a few different colored shell-like things of something that she had been working on. It had also revealed that there was a small box that looked a lot like a present for someone. It had a green bow and light green wrapping, and even though Aqua was sick and the bow was somewhat sloppy it still looked extremely nice.

The card sticking to the side said ‘Happy Birthday Ventus!’ on it.


	2. The Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha ha did I say that it was eventually?  
> I guess I meant RIGHT NOW.
> 
> Also apparently this turned more into a birthday fic than a sickfic because if you're sick in my family you still do stuff, and aren't brought chicken noodle in bed or anything, so I don't have a frame of reference. Nor have I been 'go to the hospital' sick. I guess I'm lucky like that.
> 
> Enjoy the fic! This is like.... 77% of the rest of the fic so enjoy?

Aqua had decided against sitting in her room to wait while Terra sat in front of her door like some kind of immovable rock. So she finished up the gift to Ventus, carefully trying not to sneeze all over the bow. Once finished, Aqua left the present on the desk, not daring to risk dropping it or letting Ventus see it yet. So it had to be left behind while she scaled down the tree outside her room.

Luckily, she had managed to fight through her growing sinus headache and lack of sleep to get down safely. Terra probably hadn’t thought she’d go out the window because she was sick. She wasn’t so sick that she couldn’t move. Not to mention, she could sleep tomorrow, because tomorrow wasn’t nearly as important as today.

Today was the anniversary of Ventus’ arrival. It was as close to a birthday that she had known about Ventus, and she wanted nothing more than for today to be as special as possible. The first year he had been here had been split between sleeping, standing around like a lifeless husk, and finally bonding with her and Terra.

_I won’t let him have any bad memories_ here _,_ Aqua had thought when he finally woke up.

Aqua wasn’t stupid. She’d known something bad had happened to Ventus before he arrived here. So she wanted him to smile and feel safe here. If that meant pushing herself as far as possible without breaking, then so be it.

She managed to get as far as the entrance before her vision swam and Aqua was suddenly on the ground. She hadn’t blacked out per se, but she didn’t remember how she had managed to fall down onto the floor. She tried to get up, but she heard Terra coming up the stairs. Aqua hurriedly moved back outside, trying to find somewhere to...

Was the outside always this hot? Aqua couldn’t think straight, trying to keep her thoughts from scrambling. She had to get up and to the kitchen. She needed to...

 

\---

 

Ventus was looking for a chance to redeem himself for the ‘chicken soup’ earlier. Ven hadn’t even prepared enough for himself and Terra to eat, and the remains of his first attempt taunted him. He was back in the kitchen, trying to look out over the mess as though it would somehow click into place how he was supposed to cobble some kind of meal together.

It didn’t, which was irritating in its own right.

Since he’d come to the Land of Departure, he’d found his own help on the chores to be deplorable at best, and the opposite of help at worst. He almost never cooked almost entirely because when he did it came out wrong, somehow. Eraqus made a passing comment about being concerned that the boy would burn water. Ventus felt like he really hadn’t learned much outside of learning about how to use his keyblade, despite being here for the better part of a year.

_No, it wasn’t a year,_ he corrected himself as he opened the pantry yet again, hoping that he could find a way to make a real breakfast out of what they had. It was somewhere around two now, but the first one had been such a blur that Ventus had really missed most of it asleep or as a zombie.

Finally, he settled on eggs and bacon. It was a little harder to mess those up, especially if he just fried the eggs sunny side up. He cracked one into the pan with too much strength and the shell shattered into the white so much that it almost looked as though it was done cooking already. Ventus picked out what he could and his second attempt at eggs went much better than the first. Though, the second egg was still... crunchy.

The bacon went smoother and was fried only slightly too much, but Terra liked his bacon crunchy anyway.

Ventus prepared the plates and started to move to the dining room when he heard a crash in front of the door. Quickly putting down his plates on a nearby counter, he opened the door to see a sick Aqua leaning on the doorframe.

“Aqua! You should be in your room, resting.” Ventus said, trying to take her arm for support. He was shorter than her by almost a whole head, but that wasn’t going to stop him, either.

“No, really Ven. I feel much better now. I can help make breakfast, I promise.” Aqua said, looking much worse than Ventus had previously thought she’d look if Terra needed to barricade her door. “I’m fine, I promise.”

“No you’re not. And how are you here? I thought Terra was going to stop you from leaving your room.”

Aqua mumbled something. “... climbed out the window...”

“And you’re not hurt?” Ven said, alarmed as he just noticed the leaf in Aqua’s hair.

“Nope. Now let’s m-” Aqua stopped as she was interrupted by a coughing fit. It was long enough for Ventus to pull Aqua away from the door and into the hallway. “N-no ahm fine I promise...”

“I’ve already made breakfast.” Ventus was deadpan. She really liked taking care of other far too much for her own good. Making breakfast on his own once in a while wasn't going to hurt much.

“Oh... what about lunch then, maybe we could-” Aqua replied trying to support as much of her own weight as possible. Ventus didn’t really have the arm strength to carry her on him own if she collapsed.

“Come on Aqua, back to bed with you.” Ventus said.

The two of them drifted further and further from the kitchen, and Aqua looked back forlorn. A smear of green icing remained on the fridge, the remains of her attempt to prepare a cake for Ventus hidden deeply within the mess that Ventus had made.

 

\---

By the time that Terra had started looking, Ventus crossed his path. With a sick Aqua slumped over his shoulder. Her pajamas had clearly seen better days, the blue was covered in dirt. Her hair was a mess, and Terra was pretty sure he could see a leaf sticking up out of it. She really had climbed the tree... and had probably fallen out of it too.

“What’s that smell?” Terra asked. It smelled like... something burning?

“That’s the eggs! Can you take Aqua?” Ven said, panic clear on his face.

Terra sighed at her. “I’ll take her to the infirmary, Ven.”

“Please. She’s heavier than I thought she’d be.” Ven said, laboring over helping her move even just forward.

Once the move was complete, Ven ran off towards the kitchen.

Terra carried her on his back, finding it easier to carry the now sleeping Aqua that way. He also felt faintly like a taxi cab. Still, if this meant she wasn't about to go throwing herself through windows... the price of being a taxi was a small one.

Walking through the hallways always made Terra feel as though this place could be a maze to virtually anyone else. The windows made things easier to tell where they were in relation to the outside, but the place was so huge that it always seemed like there was secretly more places that he’d never had the chance to see.

“You still doing okay back there, Aqua?” Terra asked as he rounded a corner.

“Need to...” Aqua responded.

Terra sighed and walked to the door marked in childish crayon as the ‘Infarmary’. Aqua had written signs on the door when she was little, to prevent Terra from getting lost. She’d been here far longer than he had, and had a better memory besides. He’d just never taken it down, and Eraqus never really came this way anymore.

As he opened the room, it had a bed in the corner, and thanks to that addition, it looked like any other of the trio’s rooms. Terra had always figured that it had once been set up to be a room for another apprentice, but had been just turned into potion storage. The things lined the walls with ethers, elixirs, and other healing items. Some chests in the opposite corner of the bed held synthesis materials for when Moogles came to visit. It was how Eraqus made new items to protect them when sparring matches came or when he needed to leave to take care of some business with Yen Sid. Not to mention, making these potions.

Laying Aqua on the bed, Terra took down a potion dated about a year and a week ago. It looked like it was made shortly before Ven had come to them. Terra wasn't great at dates, but knowing that Aqua was trying to celebrate Ven’s birthday without knowing it, the next best would be today.

“A potion won’t cure a cold, Terra...” Aqua rolled over on the bed, looking at him.

“Of course not,” Terra said. “But you still seem to have fallen out of a tree.”

He walked over and presented the small glass bottle to Aqua.

She took it, but seemed to be a little bitter. Aqua sat up to drink it, and downed it in one gulp.

“How many times have you been in here? I know it’s more than me.” Terra said, sitting down next to her and looking out the window.

Aqua mumbled something that sounded like a number above twenty.

“You’re always pushing yourself too hard. You work harder than the rest of us and when something important comes up, you always take responsibility for it. It doesn’t matter what it is. Cooking, cleaning, training, or mistakes. Aqua, I’m worried that someday you’ll try to fix one of our mistakes and you’ll end up hurt.” Terra said. “Let me set up the birthday surprise for Ven. I need you to rest.”

Aqua considered this for a moment. “I can’t. I know that you’re not good with sweets and-”

Terra put his hand on her head. “Stop. I know how to make a basic cake. And how much did you set up the cake in advance?”

“... all of it. It just needs to be frosted”

“I can frost a cake, Aqua.” Terra said, stern. “We aren’t children anymore, Aqua. We can take care of ourselves, you know.”

“I know.” Aqua said. “But it’s all I know how to do. I’m not good at showing how much I care without a physical item accompanying it. Master Eraqus said I needed to help take care of you guys.”

“Aqua, you do know that I’m older than you, right? If anything I feel like it should be the other way around.”

Aqua processed the response for a moment, and then seemed to not fully be able to comprehend it. She was in Eraqus’s tutelage for longer, but Terra had been older than her from the start.

“As the older student, I feel like I should be at least partially responsible for making sure you two are comfortable,” Aqua finally replied. “I mean, that’s what I should be doing, right?”

“It’s okay to not be our authority figure. I think Master Eraqus has that covered.” Terra said.

\---

Ventus finished up the breakfast and started putting things out on the table. The eggs were... a little black. But nothing was on fire. That was enough of a victory.

He put the pile of eggs in the middle of the table, hoping that were enough for the both of them. The bacon had already been finished when Aqua came stumbling in, so it had escaped Ven’s negligence. He still felt like he hadn’t done enough yet, though. The other two had always helped take care of him, so he felt like somehow he’d try to give back, somehow. Between this and the... uh... ‘stew’ Ventus was starting to feel like cooking really wasn’t his forte.

Sitting down at the table, Ven started to pick at the eggs. They were bland, and somehow still tasted burnt.

“I wonder if Aqua was ever as bad at cooking as I am now...” Ventus asked himself.

The table itself was nice, but since the master wasn’t home, Ventus only put out plates and forks. No need for formality when you’re dining alone. Ventus leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling.

Terra walked in from the kitchen, carrying an apple. Ventus swore he smelled something baking... but maybe that was just the continuing odor of the burnt eggs.

“Maybe Aqua should give you some cooking lessons. Eventually, we’re gonna be Keyblade Masters and can’t cook for you all the time,” Terra said once he’d laid eyes proper on the eggy mess. “Starting with eggs and chicken products...”

“I’m sorry. Is Aqua finally sleeping?” Ventus asked. “She seemed pretty resistant to the idea before.”

“Yeah, I managed to lock the Infirmary. It won’t last forever, since we all can summon giant keys, but I figure we can get some respite until after breakfast.” Terra took a minute to pick over the eggs on the plate, trying to grab the largely unburnt bits.

“Wait... we can use our Keyblades on doors?” Ven asked, nearly dropping a piece of bacon onto the floor.

“Well, they work on all locks, so...” Terra replied.

“Master Eraqus said that they were just for Keyholes. You know, the big magic ones to the hearts of worlds? That was the only thing you could unlock with it.” Ven seemed to stop and contemplate all the places he could go now. It was like discovering that Santa was actually real, a fantasy of going anywhere he wanted opened up before him.

Terra, sensing he had somehow created a monster, butted in before the train of thought escaped from the station. “Just remember that just because you can doesn’t mean that you should. I don’t break into your room just because I can, you know.”

“... Aqua’s really something, isn’t she?” Ven said. “She’s always known all these things and done all this stuff for us, but we only take on cooking or cleaning sometimes. She’s always making or doing stuff for us. Then she trains on top of all that. She can make that barrier, too. I don’t know how she manages it.”

“Yeah. But I think that it’s the only way she knows how to make people happy. However, if you’re so worried, learning to cook and helping clean will certainly help. However, we’re supposed to be helping you. I can’t believe we haven’t even had the time to help you learn how to properly cook.” Terra sighed. These eggs were a clear indicator of how negligent he’d been. “We can tomorrow, I guess.”

“I’m looking forward to it, Terra.” Ventus beamed at the thought.

_Happy birthday, Ven_ , Terra thought.

\---

Aqua was fussing at this point, Terra thought. She was feeling better, and by now she had adjusted the balloons and placemats for the third time. There wasn’t much of a change from the first time, Terra thought, but he could see why it was important for her.

That smile from earlier was still present in his mind. A year ago, Ven couldn’t even think for himself, but now he was cooking and cleaning and looking for more responsibility. He really had come so far, even if Ven himself couldn’t remember all of it.

“Why green for Ventus, by the way?” Terra asked.

Everything was that same green. The placemats, the icing on the cake, the plastic forks and knives, the wrapping paper for the presents... even the candles. Terra was questioning if Ventus even liked that color nearly that much. No... nobody loved a color so much that everything became the same identical color. It was impressive that Aqua managed to find everything in that same exact shade.

“It’s his favorite color.” Aqua responded. She then shivered and all but collapsed into a chair. Terra presented the blanket he’d grabbed from the infirmary earlier and gave it to her. It was a little old and moth eaten, but it worked because it didn’t make Aqua too warm. She’d started complaining that she couldn’t find a happy medium between cold and hot about an hour ago, so Terra had prepared tissues, a blanket, and some soup. It was probably better that Aqua didn’t eat that two story behemoth of a cake, anyway.

He’d spent an hour in the kitchen assembling it with Aqua’s fevered instructions -her handwriting had devolved into squiggles. However, it was slightly tilted and oozing a little, but standing firm with the help of a not so subtle pole in the center.

“Now, we just wait for the birthday boy.” Terra said, smiling.

“What did you send him off to do, anyway?” Aqua asked. “I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“Nothing too hard.”

\---

Ventus had to sweep the main hall. The place was massive just in floor space, and frequently used for sparring. However, because it was also a place guests would frequent, that meant it needed to be spotless. This was usually a task the three of them would do together. Terra and Ven often dissolved into broom fights, to which Aqua would finish up the job by using Aero to blow all the dust into one spot.

That spot was usually where Ven and Terra were goofing off.

However, Ventus was just finishing up by sweeping behind the three chairs when a thought occurred to him. He quickly checked the stairs and around the entrance, and then when he was satisfied that nobody would be coming in...

He sat down in the middle chair.

Ven made himself a finger mustache, and pretended to be Eraqus, “Aqua, to become Master... you must... fight your shadow self! Mwhahahaa-” Ventus’ affectation quickly died out after the coughing fit started in the middle of his evil laugh.

Done with his task -and bonus silly addition to it- Ven looked out the window to double check the time. The sun was starting to set, which was about right for their dinner time. Terra had promised to take care of it in Aqua’s stead today, which made Ven wonder what Terra was making.

It probably was better than Ven’s attempt at breakfast. Lunch had been a leftovers free-for-all, to make it easier on the both of them.

Strolling downstairs, he noticed that the dining room was dark. Completely dark, even. Which was strange given the number of windows and the sheer fact that Terra was supposed to be in there. The kitchen was accessible, but nobody could say that Ven was the wisest of people. So, he elected to instead push his way into the dining room.

It was pitch black. Ven couldn’t even see a hand waving in front of his face, much less anything inside. The darkness was unsettling, and it lingered just long enough for something deep in his heart to crawl up to the surface.

“H-hello? Terra? ...Aqua?” He said, his voice losing volume with every letter spoken aloud.

Suddenly, the light came back all at once in a green flash, causing Ventus to reflexively draw his keyblade. However, the fear was soon replaced with the words:

“Happy Birthday!” said in unison.

Ven stared at the cake and presents and Terra and Aqua, and... looked confused.

“It’s not my birthday.” Ventus tilted his head a little, even more confused.

“What?” Aqua gasped. “I’m so sorry... but I...”

“It’s in December.” Ven said, and Aqua looked even more crestfallen.

“Then it’s the anniversary of you coming to live with us,” Terra said. “We never asked, so Aqua just figured that today was a good a day as any to celebrate.”

“Oh, well I’m hardly going to turn down cake from Aqua!” Ven laughed.

Looking more closely at Aqua, she looked slightly worse than even after falling out of the tree. It was probably her magic that blacked out the room, but being sick like she was coupled with magic seemed like a bad idea. Ven’s worry was cut short when Terra offered him a slice of cake.

“No ice cream?” Ven asked. “You didn’t even ask, Terra.”

“Eat a bit of the cake. It doesn’t need ice cream,” Terra said, grabbing a piece for himself. Which was rare, because Terra didn’t like sweet things. If he was making dinner, it was practically guaranteed more savory meat-filled dishes.

Scooping up a bit, Ventus stuffed a tiny piece into his mouth. The cake oozed out... milk? He’d heard of moist cakes before, but...

“It’s got milk in the cake itself.” Aqua seemed to be a mind reader. “Master Eraqus taught me how to make it. It’s called Tres Leche Cake. It’s like it cake and milk somehow fused together. It’s sweet, but the milk tapers it off quite a bit.”

Ven smiled. “Thanks so much Aqua. I hope it wasn't too hard to make. You aren’t feeling well, right?”

“Nah, I made the cake and frosting yesterday. Terra’s the one who decorated it though,” Aqua explained. “Though... I wouldn’t have needed a pole through the cake.”

“Hey, that’s not on me. Because this Tres Leche cake thing is so moist, it’s not a solid cake base.” Terra pointed his fork in an accusatorial manner at Aqua. “That’s on you, Aqua.”

Aqua laughed, but it was quickly cut off in a series of coughs. They were deep, cutting coughs.

“We could wait until you’re better, Aqua,” Ven offered. “It doesn’t have to be today, you know.”

Aqua waved him off. “It’s an anniversary, silly. Of course it matters when you celebrate it.”

“Fine, then we open one gift and then we put the rest on hold until tomorrow. That counts as celebrating, right?” Ven asked Terra. Terra nodded, catching on. “See? Terra agrees.”

“Oh, no I’m fine-”

“You fell out of a tree today, Aqua,” Terra interrupted. “Potions or no, you still need rest.”

“Oh... okay. I guess I’m a little tired from that magic anyway...” Aqua said. The dark rings under eyes said otherwise, however.

\---

The party went quickly. The present he opened was a book titled _Birth By Sleep_ , and Ventus seemed pretty interested in it. Terra, however, was dreading the next task. He had to hold fast, because Aqua would insist on staying.

“Oh come on Ven, one more present? Master Eraqus got one for you as well,” Aqua said.

“Nope, you said one gift and then we can put on the rest of the party tomorrow,” Terra said. “Come on, Aqua. Time to go to bed.”

“But the sun’s barely set,” Aqua said. “Come on, we have time...”

Terra saw her shiver under the blanket. He met her eyes, but she didn’t meet his. Yeah, she knew how sick she was, but was refusing to be babied.

“Aqua...” Ven said. “It’s not like the presents are going to melt.”

_Though_ you _might,_ Terra internally added. Aqua had swapped from cold to warm and was pushing the blanket as far away from herself as possible.

Aqua, seeing herself as outmaneuvered, sighed. “Well, Master Eraqus is going to be here tomorrow anyway...”

“All the more reason to hold off. He’d certainly like to have this cake too, you know?” Terra said.

Aqua stood up, and started to shuffle off, leaning dangerously a few times, but still stubbornly walking away. Terra considered going after her, but she’d had enough of that today. She still had her pride, after all. If he was worried, he could always double check her room later. It wasn’t as if things were going to fall apart here, after all.

“Here I thought today would be much harder without her helping us,” Terra said.

“Nah, I think that it’s probably better that she gets a break.” Ven started cleaning up the paper he’d ripped as well as collecting the plates.

“Yeah, things don’t just fall apart when you’re sick, after all. Not if you have other people to help you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've noticed a style of writing change, it's because the first part was written about... 2017. Yeah... >.>  
> I've been picking at this idea for a long, long time.


End file.
